Unlike Cass, Falco is poor so society doesn’t really hold him to many standards. I kind of want to shake her sometimes J But as she evolves throughout the trilogy, I was surprised to find her becoming someone I could relate to on several levels.įor those who are unfamiliar with Falco, how would you introduce him?įalco is a seventeen-year old artist’s apprentice working for a lesser-known descendant of Titian. Cass frustrates me a lot in Venom because she says things and does things I would never say or do. I learned that Cass and I are not as different as I once imagined. What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating Cassandra? But Falco has his own secrets and motivations, and even as she begins to fall for him, Cass can’t be certain she can trust him. Desperate to find her friend’s body and avoid the murderer who is now stalking her, Cass teams up with Falco, a street artist, to investigate the crimes. While struggling with the balance of honoring her family and being true to herself, she discovers that a friend’s body has been stolen and replace with a murdered courtesan. Venom is the story of Cassandra Caravello, a wealthy Renaissance girl who lives on one of the outlying islands of Venice. In your new novel Venom, can you tell my Book Nerd community a little about it?

Whether or not your book is eventually deemed a success or a failure (by your publisher, by the industry, etc.) has no bearing on your worth as a person. Just because someone hates your book doesn’t mean they hate you. It sounds very obvious, but when what was once your private story suddenly becomes public property, it’s easy to internalize the bad reviews as personal failures. What is the best piece of advice you ever received from another author? The fight scene in the wine room was the easiest scene for me to write because I feel more at home writing about weapons and fistfights than I do about fancy clothes and tea parties. I needed research and help regarding the most basic stuff about dresses and platform shoes, etc.

What’s one thing that readers would be surprised to find out about you?

Venom by Fiona Paul